Quote Originally Posted by BobM View Post
Here's a thought for those of us who actually go over to the homes of others to hang out and listen to music once in a while, be it in an audio club setting or just a Saturday afternoon. What is your reference for evaluating that other person's system?

I would suggest that (for most people) your own home system is your reference, because the sound of it is what you are most intimately familiar with. OK, some people will get wow'ed by a friends costly system, but no system does everything perfectly. If the friends system does everything yours does, and then some, you will likely praise it. If it falls short in that one category that makes your special, then you will likely say it needs work (maybe not out loud, but in your head).

Then again, some of us are likely to say something like "if my foot is tapping to the music, all is good".
Your right, no matter how good or bad, your system is the reference. For me, it's alway a saturday. I'm at their place or they are at mine. It's usually, turn that up or turn that down. Everyone is being grained and watered and lots of chit chat but alot of evaluation doesn't go on. But, one of the first things that usually hits me is, there's to much low frequency here.